Subject Searching in Two Online Catalogs

This study compares the results of subject searching in two online catalog systems, one system with authority control, the other without. Transaction logs from Library A (no authority control) were analyzed to identify searching patterns of users; 885 searches were attempted, 351 (39.7%) by subject. One hundred forty- two (40.6%) of these subject searches were unsuccessful. Identical searches were performed in a comparable library that had authority control, Library B. Terms identified in "see" references at Library B were searched in Library A. One hundred five (73.9%) of the searches that appeared to fail would have retrieved at least one, and usually many, records if a link had been provided between the term chosen by the user and the term used by the system.     

Evaluation of a program to teach health professionals to search MEDLINE

This study analyzes the search behavior of end users who had taken a class in searching MEDLINE on the National Library of Medicine's MEDLARS system. Of the class alumni, 58% obtained passwords. Most of these were still conducting their own searches twelve to eighteen months later. Telephone interviews and search observations indicated that these end users were satisfied with their results and felt they had mastered the basic mechanics of searching. However, appropriate use of explodes and subheadings, as well as locating appropriate search terms, still presented difficulties for them. Further training in these areas may be required.     

Online access to MEDLINE in clinical settings: impact of user fees

The effect of introducing user fees on the frequency and quality of MEDLINE searching with GRATEFUL MED by physicians in clinical settings was tested. After training and free use (prior study), consenting participants were randomly allocated to pay searching costs (pay group) or continue without fees (no pay group). Fifty-nine physicians participated. Among the prior study's frequent searchers, the pay group searched at less than one third of the rate of those assigned to no pay. For less frequent searchers in the prior study, only 48% of those assigned to pay did any searches, compared with 85% for the no pay group (P = 0.006), and for those who did search, their frequency was almost half. However, there was no significant difference in the quality of searches; both groups demonstrated about equivalent recall (P = 0.77), but significantly lower precision (P = 0.03) than for the librarian's independent searches. Similarly, there was no difference in the proportion of searches affecting clinical decisions for the two groups. Thus, imposing user charges for online searching in clinical settings after a period of free use adversely affects searching quantity, but not quality. MEDLINE providers should consider whether user fees will undermine its benefits.     

MEDLINE and PsycLIT on CD-ROM:

A survey of users of PsycLIT and MEDLINE on CDROM was performed at an academic medical library. The questionnaire was designed to gather information about the user population, satisfaction of the users, the assistance needed to use the systems, and the type of searches being performed. The majority of users were graduate students in the schools of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. In general, users were satisfied with the performance of the systems. Assistance from a librarian, printed documentation, or another patron was required by 85% of users, and they were generally satisfied with this assistance. Most searches were performed to obtain information on a subject. The results were remarkably similar for both databases.     

MEDLINE and PsycLIT on CD-ROM: a survey of users in an academic medical library

A survey of users of PsycLIT and MEDLINE on CD-ROM was performed at an academic medical library. The questionnaire was designed to gather information about the user population, satisfaction of the users, the assistance needed to use the systems, and the type of searches being performed. The majority of users were graduate students in the schools of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. In general, users were satisfied with the performance of the systems. Assistance from a librarian, printed documentation, or another patron was required by 85% of users, and they were generally satisfied with this assistance. Most searches were performed to obtain information on a subject. The results were remarkably similar for both databases.     

A pilot survey of user satisfaction with the online search service in South West Thames Regional libraries

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An analysis of transaction logs to evaluate the educational needs of end users

End users at the University of Southern California (USC) have free access to the last ten years of MEDLINE through a local online system known as USCInfo. Librarians at USC Norris Medical Library provide documentation and offer formal and informal training on the use of the system to search MEDLINE. To assess the educational needs of the end users, 643 searches were analyzed. Although a high proportion (84%) of the searches were judged to be successful, the use of medical subject headings (MeSH) to obtain optimal results was low; only 20% of all successful subject searches employed MeSH. Also, the advanced features of the system were underutilized. While it is promising to learn that many end users are obtaining positive results, methods which will encourage end users improve their retrievals need to be developed.     

GRATEFUL MED: a tool for studying searching behavior.

The latest release of GRATEFUL MED offers medical libraries an opportunity to monitor searching patterns of end users searching the databases of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). A GRATEFUL MED use log records information from each search session. Analysis of the log from a recent beta test program at the Welch Medical Library indicates that most NLM searches occur in the MEDLINE database. Moreover, the study reveals that searchers overlook many user-friendly features of the program. Evaluation of the use log suggests changes for future versions of the program.     

User attitudes toward end-user literature searching

A survey to determine attitudes toward end-user searching was made at Loyola University's Medical Center Library using MEDIS, an online full-text and bibliographic medical retrieval system. One hundred forty-one completed questionnaires were analyzed for this report. Information was collected on user familiarity with computers, end-user training, system use, mechanics of searching, and attitudes toward future use. Computer familiarity was highest among the faculty users. Ninety percent of the respondents saw librarians as a crucial agent in training and in providing end-user assistance. Respondents identified five major reasons for using the system: helpfulness, convenience, time savings, rapid feedback, and presentation of needed information. Searching the MEDLINE database rather than the full-text database was the search method of choice. Continued use of both mediated and end-user searching was intended by most of the respondents. Survey results support a perceived need for end-user searching and confirmed recommendations of the Association of American Medical Colleges on medical information science skills.     

Impact of end-user search training on pharmacy students: a four-year follow-up study.

The Alfred Taubman Medical Library at the University of Michigan has offered instruction in online literature searching to third-year pharmacy students as a component of the course "Drug Information and Scientific Literature Evaluation" since 1983. In the spring of 1989, a follow-up study was conducted to assess the impact of instruction on four classes of graduates. Of a pool of 151 graduates, 90 (60%) responded to a mailed questionnaire on their use of information and computerized literature searching. The respondents were divided into four subgroups: end-user searchers, users of intermediaries, end users who used intermediaries, and those who did not use computerized literature search systems. Seventy-two percent of the respondents used some type of computerized literature searching, and 42% performed their own searches. The four subgroups differed in general computer use, familiarity with MEDLINE search terminology, information use, reasons for using or not using literature searching, and characteristics of searches (i.e., type, time frame, amount, and frequency). Training in end-user search systems appears to have had an impact on the continued use of computerized literature searching several years after the formal educational program.     

Evaluation of MEDLINE service by user survey

The use of MEDLINE at the Calder Memorial Library of the University of Miami School of Medicine has grown so substantially over the past one and one-half years that we felt an evaluation of the service was appropriate. A one-page questionnaire was sent to 350 patrons who had requested MEDLINE searches in 1973. The response validated many of our assumptions about the user group and their reasons for using MEDLINE. Most surprising were the degree of enthusiasm, the willingness to pay out of personal funds, the apparent lack of knowledge about SDILINE, and the small number of critical comments. We expect that the experience gained from this assessment will enable us to make improvements in some aspects of our service, as well as to undertake more subject-specific evaluations at shorter intervals in the future.     

An evaluation of CD-ROM MEDLINE use in Thailand

An analysis of requests for CD-ROM MEDLINE* searches from June to December 1987 at the Medical Library, Chulalongkorn University, was performed. Requests were received from eighty-two places, in Bangkok and the provinces; 97.8% were from government organizations. MEDLINE on CD-ROM was available from 1982 to date. Most users requested searches covering the previous five or six years. Users were surveyed regarding the service: just over 87% found the service user-friendly. In addition, users suggested that the library conduct search training programs, and more than half of the users noted that a single work station could not meet the search load.     

Analysis of non-urban end users' MEDLINE training.

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) Library mailed a MEDLINE End User Practice Survey Form to 310 health professionals who had attended MEDLINE seminars supported by a two-year NLM grant. The survey sought to determine how many respondents had obtained NLM codes, reasons for not obtaining a code, searching time done since the seminar, differences in the use of information since taking the seminar, factors helpful in successful searching, and factors contributing to frustrations. The most prevalent reasons for not obtaining a code were lack of a microcomputer and modem, infrequent use of MEDLINE, cost, lack of time, complications, and ability to obtain free searches.     

Bibliographic instruction in the hospital library

The nature of bibliographic instruction in this hospital library continues to evolve. As the library makes easy-to-master, menu-driven tools for online searching available to end users, the demand for this service and the accompanying training increases. The demand for formal sessions covering research techniques is also increasing. Upon request, the library offered an extended research orientation to the housestaff in Obstetrics and Gynecology in May of 1993. An introduction to the use of CD-ROM was included to highlight its usefulness for citation verification, author searches, and for periodic current awareness searches on a particular topic. The UMH Library staff strive to offer the most current and comprehensive facilities and services to their users. These include automated access to the library's book, journal, and audiovisual holdings using the Data Trek system; online bibliographic searching by library staff and end users using CD Plus MEDLINE on CD-ROM and Grateful MED software; participation in clinical rounds to provide research support for clinical care; and several types of bibliographic instruction. In addition to the informal teaching of library research techniques that the library staff offers on a daily basis, the Library at Union Memorial Hospital is pleased to be able to provide a formalized and evolving bibliographic instruction program.     

BRS Colleague MEDLINE end user training follow-up survey.

The amount of recent literature describing end user training programs is substantial, yet there are few reports evaluating the effectiveness of such training. This article reports on a follow-up survey of the first seventy-five trainees of a four-hour BRS Colleague MEDLINE training program at the Health Sciences Library of East Carolina University. The 90.7 percent response rate to the questionnaire provided information about both those who performed searches and those who had not. It indicated how trainees felt about their training, their ability to perform searches or reason for not performing searches, and types of additional training the trainees desired. Survey results are discussed in terms of effectiveness of the training for the end user with infrequent search needs, possible modifications to improve the effectiveness of the training, and possible alternatives to BRS Colleague MEDLINE.     

BRS Colleague MEDLINE End User Training Follow-up Survey

The amount of recent literature describing end user training programs is substantial, yet there are few reports evaluating the effectiveness of such training. This article reports on a follow-up survey of the first seventy-five trainees of a four-hour BRS Colleague MEDLINE training program at the Health Sciences Library of East Carolina University. The 90.7 percent response rate to the questionnaire provided information about both those who performed searches and those who had not. It indicated how trainees felt about their training, their ability to perform searches or reason for not performing searches, and types of additional training the trainees desired. Survey results are discussed in terms of effectiveness of the training for the end user with infrequent search needs, possible modifications to improve the effectiveness of the training, and possible alternatives to BRS Colleague MEDLINE.     

Web-Based Citation Management Compared to EndNote: Options for Medical Sciences

ABSTRACT

The authors of this article analyzed the differences in output when searching MEDLINE direct and MEDLINE via citation management software, EndNote X1®, EndNote Web®, and RefWorks^©. Several searches were performed on Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed directly. These searches were compared against the same searches conducted in Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed using the search features in EndNote X1, EndNote Web, and RefWorks. Findings indicated that for in-depth research users, should search the databases directly rather than through the citation management software interface. The search results indicated it would be appropriate to search databases via citation management software for citation verification tasks and for cursory keyword searching.     

The effect of CD-ROM MEDLINE on online end user and mediated searching.

Since 1970, Indiana University School of Medicine Library (IUSML) has traditionally been a high volume online searching institution. The library recently implemented an end user searching program which includes MEDLINE on CD-ROM. The effect of CD-ROM on online end user and mediated searching is discussed. Comparative statistics are provided by category of search service. CD-ROM has had a dramatic lowering effect on online end user searching and has had little effect on mediated searching. IUSML's experience with CD-ROM technology has been a positive one. Trained end users have become IUSML's greatest asset.     

MEDLINE and MeSH: challenges for end users

Through casual observations, formal consultations, and educational sessions, the authors have identified various indexing features of the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) that pose challenges to end users while attempting to obtain relevant retrieval when searching MEDLINE. These problematic features include the use of Explodes, Tree structures, subheadings, Text Word vs. subject heading searching, and central concept searching. End-user search software is becoming more sophisticated with an increasing number of choices offered for search strategy formulation. Methods of instruction to orient the end user to these systems will also have to become more detailed. A review of the literature, that discusses end-user problems with using MEDLINE and MeSH, is included.     

End-user full-text searching: Access or excess?

The study examined and assessed the search techniques of trained end-users and determined whether or not they were searching the system effectively. One hundred and thirty-one users searched a full-text system and completed a survey that asked them to evaluate the system and describe their search strategy and techniques. Overall, 55% of the total indicated dissatisfaction with their searches. Correlations between native language and searching results and satisfaction are shown. These findings suggest that computer literate end-users with prior experience searching other databases and formal training experience more difficulties than is commonly realized. Implications for training are discussed.